Eckhart Tolle teachings: what does Eckhart Tolle mean by “presence?”
Eckart Tolle is a German spiritual teacher and speaker who suffered from depression for several years before finding himself awakened (to the simple joy of being [alive]). Following his awakening, Eckhart Tolle chose to leave the PhD program he had until then been enrolled in, and instead spent a period of two years in a state of deep enjoyment of life, spending most days observing life from park benches, fully immersed in each moment. Eventually, he began writing and speaking of his learnings, dedicating himself to the path of teaching others how to unlock their own joy of being (alive) through the power of mindfulness and being present.
Throughout his career, Eckhart Tolle has produced a prolific number of quotes from his many books (most famously The Power of Now) and workshops. Many of Eckhart Tolle’s quotes are simple and profound, but can at first glance be devilishly difficult to truly grasp.
Most of Eckhart Tolle’s messages revolve around the act of being present.
Eckhart Tolle’s work revolves around extolling the virtues of being present (i.e. The Power of Now), because of the epiphanic moment in which he discovered the power that being fully present created in his own life.
What does Eckhart Tolle mean by presence?
Presence is a state of being that is always accessible to us. We reach a state of presence (become fully present)by tapping into our inner awareness (beyond ego) to become fully conscious of the present moment.
However, the machinations of the egoic mind prevent us from using our inner awareness to access a state of full presence. The ego distracts our inner awareness from becoming fully present by constantly bombarding us with judgments or narrations of the present, as well as thoughts about the past or fantasies/worries about the future. The ego is aided in this by what Eckhart Tolle calls the “pain body” and sabotaging thoughts.
Why does the egoic mind fight presence?
The ego is essentially fighting for its survival. The ego tries to prevent us from becoming fully present, because the ego does not exist in a state of full presence. The ego is an imaginary vision of ourselves that we keep alive and fed every time we think about who we are, when we resist events in life, or when we refuse to accept who we are in any moment. When we let go of thinking about ourselves, resisting what is, or when we fully accept what happens to us in life, we become fully present and the ego vanishes. The ego is revived the instant we lose our presence by again thinking about our concept of self, resisting what is (e.g. that shouldn’t have happened to me) or don’t accept who we are (e.g. I should be this/that).
The egoic game is impossible; the only possible option is presence
The power of presence is to dispel the delusion that we need to try to become the vision of self our egoic mind creates. The catch to this game is that is impossible. The delusion that we can do certain things that will enable us to reach the vision of self the ego projects is how the ego continues to secure its own existence. It survives by constantly projecting a vision of who we should be, so that we will constantly obsess about becoming that vision of ourselves. Yet, when we accomplish something that the ego promised would enable us to become the version of ourselves we wanted, the ego moves the goal posts and projects a new, better vision of self that we now need to keep striving to achieve. We’ve all had this moment of “now what,” letdown, eventual disappointment after achieving something we wanted with all our heart before.
Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome is the definition madness. The egoic mind’s game is the proverbial carrot on a stick race that will never end, but will keep our egos fed.
The power of presence is in becoming connected to the eternal “isness” of the present, where none of our energy is devoted to maintaining our egoic identity, and can be redeployed to living our lives to the fullest.
Eckhart Tolle is pointing to the fact that the only sane way to live is to let go of chasing the egoic vision of self, by becoming present. We have the power to accept who we are and what happens in life. We can’t change the past, but we do have the power to stop resisting the facts of the past. We have the power to stop obsessing about the future and to decide to just do our best in the present and accept what happens. We have the power to focus our energies on the journey we’re actively living (the present moment), rather than wasting our energies imagining and fearing various outcomes (the future). We have the power to continue doing and living our lives in a flow state, where we aren’t thinking about ourselves or whether what we are doing will make us whole/happy. We have the power to realize that nothing will make us happy forever, but that we can enjoy happiness when it’s present, and find meaning and peace even when we’re not happy.
The power of presence stems from what Eckhart Tolle calls “the unmanifested,” where all things/thoughts/forms are one and the idea of a separate self is nonexistent.
Another mindfulness philosopher, Alan Watts, has many wonderfully entertaining monologues on the idea that we’re all one. We all from non-being into being and the idea that we are separate forms is delusional. From the perspective of presence, there are no problems in life. Life is as life does, and we don’t need to believe our egoic minds that try to make us stressed out about what life does.
The reality, though, is that the ego is very good at spinning convincing illusions that have us craving the vision of self we see through its lens.
For instance, in a state of presence, we still have fear, anxiety, frustration, depression, and other “bad” emotions; but we aren’t bothered by them. We don’t label things as good or bad and therefore create negativity or unnecessary stress. The ego is what labels and creates stress; our inner awareness does not.
There are many ego-driven misconceptions of what presence is, too. The stronger the ego, the stronger our belief in these misconceptions, and the harder it is for us to become fully present.
There is no good or bad, but thinking makes it so — William Shakespeare
Still curious to learn about what presence means and what being present can unlock in your life? Continue by reading: “Presenteversion: Beyond Extroversion and Introversion”
In another essay, I break down one of Eckhart Tolle’s famous quotes “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.”
For more breakdowns of mindfulness guru quotes, be sure to check out What Alan Watts means by “trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.”
That’s all for today – thanks for reading! Learn more about how working with a personal development coach can help you to live a more fulfilling life, sign up for my newsletter, and stay tuned for more self-discovery essays!